A Boy in Need: I'm Still Out There
by Super-sonic Iblish
Summary: Amy Rose is a common, popular freshman. Knuckles is a depressed, bullied nobody. What happens when Amy decides to lend a hand, and comfort this broken soul. And what happens when Knuckles' brother, Sonic, gets jealous of Knuckles' new friend? Knuxamy
1. Chapter 1

_Surprise! Toldja it wouldn't take long! Sonic and co belong to SEGA, and just so you know, this is a continuation of my other story, A Boy in Need. If you haven't read that first, you wouldn't get it, srry!_

_now, without further ado..._

**A Boy In Need: I'm Still Out There**

A light pink hedgehog, named Amy Rose, walked into the school building. She wore a short, red, sleeveless dress and a pair of blue jeans underneath it. Amy walked into Mobius County Middle and High school that Monday, and she let out an aggravated sigh, re-positioning her backpack on her shoulders. She just did not want to go through another grueling week of high school, but it's not like she had a choice.

She walked into first hour's room and sat down next to a friend of hers, a white wolf girl with blue eyes named Rachel, and she began to talk with her.

"Hey Rachel! Have you finished your biology homework yet?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, how about you?" Rachel replied. Amy shrugged.

"Meh, I've got time. It's not due till tomorrow," she replied. Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're never going to graduate if you keep procrastinating!" she said to her.

"Rachel... you're such a ruiner!" Amy said, playfully slapping her on the arm with a book. "We're only freshmen, I don't want to think about graduating already!"

"But that's what I live for; to ruin other people's days!" Rachel joked. The two of them started laughing quietly.

The classroom door opened again, and in walked a tall, red echidna boy with violet eyes, named Knuckles.

"Oh, hey, it's that kid with the one arm; he's Sonic's brother, right?" Amy pointed out, jabbing Rachel in the stomach. Rachel made a slight "oof" sound, then looked up as the one-armed echidna walked past them, to the back of the classroom. He didn't look at anyone in particular, nor did he sit next to anyone. He just took a desk away from everyone and pulled out a book to read.

"Gee, he looks depressed," Rachel whispered quietly. "I feel bad." Amy took a harder look at him. All he did was look at the book he was reading; he never looked up, and he kept the same, solemn expression on his face. Amy heard the guys sitting near her whispering crude words about Knuckles.

"You're right... The guys are such jerks to him..." Amy agreed.

Knuckles looked down at his book, though he wasn't really reading it. He was just trying to make himself appear occupied, so he didn't become the face of mockery again. He could see groups of guys and girls whispering... probably about him no doubt. Knuckles' heard re-shattered once again, as he overheard the words "freak" and "Weirdo." One boy got up and headed to the back of the class, where the pencil sharpener was. As he passed Knuckles' desk, he bent down by his face.

"Hey faggot," he whispered to Knuckles, as he walked by. Knuckles said nothing and just stared forward, not looking the boy in the eyes.

"Alright class, take your textbooks out!" the teacher called, as he walked into the room. Knuckles obeyed, but felt like crying on the inside... just like every day.

Later on in the day, Amy was on her way down to the lunch room, when she heard shouting, and boys chanting "Fight Fight Fight!" She saw a crowd gathering by one of the lockers, and ran over by it to see what the commotion was all about. She pushed a few boys aside, and shouted "Move!" to a few others, and saw Mike, one of the boys on the school wrestling team, slamming Knuckles into a locker repeatedly. He swung at Knuckles, just missing him each time to taunt him. Knuckles flinched and gasped, holding up his one arm in defense at each of the attempted blows. Mike was shouting things at him, like "Oh, watch out, I'm gonna hit you!" and laughing mockingly at the poor, cornered echidna. Amy felt her stomach clench as she watched him torture Knuckles, sometimes hitting him and sometimes not.

"Teacher!" one boy shouted as a warning, because there was a teacher headed down the hall. Mike slammed his fist into Knuckles' stomach, which was the first time he'd actually, forcefully, hit him, then walked away quickly so he wouldn't get in trouble. Knuckles was bent over, trying to regain his breath, as the crowd quickly dispersed. However, Amy stayed, standing across from him and leaning up against the other set of lockers, watching him try to stand back up. She wanted to go ask if he was ok, but something held her back… was it fear that he might be angry, or just fear of being made fun of herself for talking to him. "_I'm so selfish, not helping someone just because of my status!_" she thought, yet she remained in her spot, as she watched him. Knuckles coughed and winced, still gripping at his paining stomach. He looked up, and immediately his eyes locked right on hers. His face appeared seething and angry, but in his eyes, she saw pain and sadness. Amy gulped, as he just stared at her coldly, but then looked away. He looked down at the ground, averting her gaze from his view, grimacing. A bit startled, Amy quickly turned and walked away before something happened. As she walked down the hall, she realized that her heart was thumping extremely fast.

"_What had he possibly done that caused Mike to beat him up like that_?" she thought.

Knuckles saw that girl staring at him in the hall. What was her name; Amy? He looked at her, unsure of what to say. For some reason, she seemed scared of him, although he didn't know why. Fearing he may have startled her, and ashamed of himself, he looked down, to try and get away from her gaze. But he still felt her eyes boring into the back of his head, and he let a slight grimace slip onto his face. His stomach finally stopped throbbing, so he stood up. He looked back at Amy, but found that she was quickly walking down the stairs. When Amy left, she left in a hurry, and he felt like he'd startled her. But he didn't worry about it for long; at least now he was alone, and to him, being alone was his only comfort. He winced once more and walked off down the hall, hoping no one else was watching him.

Amy sat next to Rachel, still panting heavily, next to her other friends; Sasha the hedgehog and Daisy the Phoenix.

"Girl, what's got you all wound up?" Daisy asked.

Amy sighed. "Nothing," she replied. "We have Cheerleading practice tonight," Amy randomly pointed out, to change the subject.

_Srry, not much to write yet... but I'll update soon. Just gotta think of some new ideas, won't take long._

_Well, bai!_


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic and Knuckles stepped off the bus and headed down the road towards home. As they walked up their driveway, Sonic stopped his brother and spoke.

"Knuckles, is it ok if I run home from now on, instead of taking the bus? I have to practice for track season." he asked.

"What! No, please don't!" Knuckles cried. The truth was, since Sonic was the captain of every sport team at school, he was considered popular. So, when he hung around Knuckles, the guys didn't act so rough on him. If Sonic didn't ride the bus home, Knuckles would be tormented in yet another place, and he didn't think he could take it.

Sonic frowned at his brother disapprovingly. "Knuckles, you're 15! I really don't think you need your little brother to hang around you every moment of the day anymore," he said sternly. Now that… that ticked Knuckles off. He knew he was 10 times stronger than Sonic was; he had to shrug off being bullied, beaten, and mocked all day long, while Sonic had life easy. Of course, he'd never tell him that, so instead he just got mad.

"You know what? Fine, do whatever you want! See if I care!" Knuckles shouted in Sonic's face, and with that, he stormed into the house and straight up to his room, leaving Sonic behind.

Knuckles sighed to try and calm down afterwards his door was closed, and looked around his room. It still reeked slightly like wet paint, even though it'd been finished several days ago. All his things that he didn't have a place for at the moment sat in cardboard boxes by the wall.

Knuckles walked up to his bed, took off his shirt, and flopped onto the bed, his face landing in his pillow. He looked down at his arm stump and let out another, exaggerated sigh. He felt at the scar that'd long-since faded on the tip of his arm, and stroked the red, peach fuzz fur that'd finally begun to re-grow on the end of the arm, around the scar.

He spent an amount of time pondering and thinking about anything and everything, even stuff that was irrelevant, until the thought of how he was going to get to school resurfaced. He thought he could walk to school; of course, he Sonic wouldn't wait up, but that was almost a good thing, at least then he'd be alone. The only problem was, the school was several miles away from his home and he couldn't walk that far. Stumped, he rolled over on his bed and moaned. His eyes trailed back to his arm again, then to his chest, where scars were still visible. He thought back to the tiny memory that he'd tried to shove to the back of his mind. He thought back to when he was being abused, and was on the brink of death.

"Why couldn't he have just killed me there?" he mumbled out loud. He knew he shouldn't be thinking suicidal thoughts, but he just couldn't stop that thought from popping up.

Amy went through another boring day of school… and another, and another, before something finally happened on a Wednesday. She was in her 9th grade English class, when the teacher announced that she was having a big project coming up. Each student would have a partner, and have to write a one-page long poem about your partner, due in one week.

"Ok students, I'm going to assign you your partners, so listen for your name, there will be no repeats," the teacher called.

"But Mrs. Westing, can't we choose our own partners?" one girl asked.

"No Jessie, I want you to be partnered with someone you aren't friends with or know really well. This is, technically, a research assignment," the teacher replied. Several "Aws" and groans, mostly from girls, rang out as the teacher began to read off the names.

"Tyler and Katie, Rachel and Shadow, Kylie and Melissa, DJ and Shane, Sonic and Mary, Silver and Karrie, Lizzy and Miley, Amy and Knuckles…"

While the teacher read out the rest of the names, Amy looked back towards her partner, the red echidna who always sat in the back. He was hunched over his desk, drawing or writing something in his notebook, when his eyes slowly looked up and locked on hers. Her stomach clenched as he glared at her with those violet daggers, then looked back down again. Amy felt a chill rush through her, and she flattened her ears, pouting. "_Great… at least I know one thing to include in my poem; he's creepy,"_ she thought.

The teacher finished reading off the names, and by now the class was very loud and talkative, so she had to shout over them.

"Now, everyone… everyone, LISTEN!" she shouted, and it grew silent again as everyone looked back up at the teacher. "That's better," the teacher continued. "Now remember, this poem has to be at least one page long. And I don't want anything like 'she has brown eyes, and she's not a guy,' or generic stuff like that. I want you to really dig deep on your person. Try to get stuff like what he or she likes to do, or what his or her daily life is like. Get creative! You have the rest of the class period to meet with your partner," she said. Then, the classroom grew loud again, as everyone got up and met with their partners. Everyone, that is, except for Knuckles. He remained in his seat, forcing Amy to walk over to his desk.

"Hi, my name is Amy!" she introduced, extending a hand to shake his. Knuckles appeared to be doodling something that he covered up with his arm. He looked up at her with a seemingly emotionless face, but then his eyes trailed to her extended hand and he then looked back down at his notebook and continued to doodle. Amy awkwardly put her hand away and cleared her throat.

"Do you want to get started on the project?" she asked. Still, Knuckles remained silent. Amy began to grow a bit irritated with him. "Do you even care about this project?" she asked. Yet still, he remained quiet and didn't look at her. "Do you know how to speak?" Amy demanded. This time, he did look up, giving her a "WTF" look.

"Yeah I can speak!" he replied, giving her some attitude while he was at it. Amy folded her arms across her chest and glared right back at him. Finally, after a moment of just staring at her bored, angry eyes, he sighed, closed his notebook, and turned his body to face her.

"Fine, let's get this over with," he said. "What's your personality like?" he asked.

"No no, you're not supposed to do it like that!" Amy complained. "You're supposed to ask me questions, like what I like to do and what my favorite things are, what my family's like… stuff like that. Here's an example, um… what's your favorite pastime?" she asked him.

"Don't have one," Knuckles bluntly replied. Amy growled unhappily and looked around. Others already had 4 or 5 things written on their papers already and she had none. And she sucked at poetry, so she was going to need as much time as possible to write the poem!

"Ooh! You're not helping at all!" she complained. "Your carelessness is going to make me fail; English is the one class I actually care about!" she wined at the echidna. Knuckles gave her a hard glare, which sort of frightened Amy. She felt a lump form in her throat, as she turned to walk away. She was going to ask the teacher to switch partners, when Knuckles said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"My job…" he spoke, just loud enough that she could hear him. She turned her head to look at him.

"Excuse me?" she questioned.

"My favorite pastime is working at my job at the hospital," Knuckles clarified. Amy turned her body towards him again and smiled.

"There, now that wasn't so hard, now was it?" she asked rhetorically. Knuckles never smiled back, but he did nod in agreement, then looked back down at his closed notebook.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

"Oh shoot! We still need more information!" Amy exclaimed. "I need to get it all as soon as possible, so I could start writing it!" Everyone was grabbing up their backpacks and leaving the classroom. "Do you have a cell phone?" Amy asked him. "I could call or text you, and we can get together tonight to get the rest of the information," she offered. Without a word, Knuckles reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Before he could get a chance to say anything, Amy snatched his phone and entered her number into his contacts. "And what's your number?" she asked him.

"555-2132," Knuckles replied. Amy entered it into her own phone and set his on his desk.

"Thank you! I'll call you later!" Amy said, and she picked up her bag and skipped out of the room. Knuckles took his cell phone and notebook off his desk and shoved both into his backpack. Next was gym, great; it was a prime time for the other guys to harass him. He moaned in his throat and walked out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Knuckles stepped off the bus, after another brutal bus ride. People were calling him names and laughing at him, people started throwing spitballs at him, and one kid even threw a textbook at him. It hit him right in the eye, and he feared he may have a black eye the next day. Knuckles stumbled off the bus, holding an ice pack that the bus driver had given him to his eye.

He was halfway down the block to his house, when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open, expecting it to be his mom or dad. But instead, it was that girl from English, Amy Rose. Her text read, "Hey Knuckles! Just checking 2 see that this is the right number. I doubted U'd send me a fake number, but still…"

Knuckles texted back, "Yeah, its me." He shoved it back in his pocket and began walking, but no sooner than had he sent the text, he received another one. "Dang this girl types fast…" he mumbled, as he flipped the phone back open. "Good," it read, "Hey, U want to meet up at a Café r something 2 talk about our project?" Knuckles was a bit surprised, this sounded all-too-suspicious... however, he'd go with it.

"Uh… ok," he replied. A few moments later, he received another text.

"How's the Starbucks on the edge of town sound?" it read.

"Ok," he texted back. Well, since he was going to Starbucks, he had to tell his parents. He dialed his home phone number and waited for his mom to pick up.

"Hello?" Lorena replied.

"Hey mom!" Knuckles replied.

"Hi Knuckles, honey!"

"Mom, I'm heading out to Starbucks to meet with this girl about a project," Knuckles said.

"Oh, I see," Lorena replied jokingly. "So, is she cute?"

"MOM!" Knuckles exclaimed, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Lorena was laughing on the other line.

"I'm sorry. Its ok, you can go. It's the Starbucks near Smalltown, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Knuckles replied.

"You want me to pick you up afterwards?" Lorena asked.

"Nah, It's ok, I'll walk."

"Well, ok, but be home in time for dinner, ok?"

"Ok mom, bye!" Knuckles hung up and rolled his eyes at his mother's immature behavior. He changed his direction and headed towards town, discarding the ice pack in the grass.

Amy sat at one of the tables near the window, tapping her finger impatiently on the table as she waited for Knuckles to get there. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a notebook and pencil, so she could write down the information. While she waited, she grew bored and began to write about herself a bit, so she could give it to Knuckles, in case if he was uncooperative.

Finally, Knuckles walked into Starbucks and spotted Amy by the window. He walked right up to her, unnoticed, and stood over her. Since she was writing, Amy didn't notice him until he cleared his throat. Startled, she looked up fast and saw Knuckles standing there.

"Oh, good, you're here!" Amy said, as she looked back down at her paper and finished her sentence. "Go on, sit down," she said as she wrote.

"Uh, ok…" Knuckles mumbled and he sat across from her. "Do you want anything, I brought some cash?" Knuckles offered.

"Nah, I'm good," Amy replied, and she put the pencil down. Upon looking up and seeing Knuckles' black eye, she gasped and her hands flew to her mouth in alarm. "Oh my gosh, what happened to your eye?" she asked, "It's all black and puffy!"

"A kid threw a book at it on the bus," Knuckles replied with a bored expression.

"Yeah, those boys are such jerks!" she said. "I mean, they've made fun of me many times too, like the time I-,"

"Not to be rude or anything, but, can we get to work on the project?" Knuckles interrupted. He wasn't about to listen to a "chick flick" story and end up missing dinner because of it.

"You're right," Amy admitted. She tore the piece of paper she'd been writing on off of her notebook and handed it to him. "Here's some stuff about me; I took the liberty of writing it down for you while I was waiting here," she said. Knuckles took it from her and stuffed it in his bag. "So, what about you? What do you do for fun?" Amy asked, resting her elbows on the table, folding her hands, and resting her chin on them.

"I don't really have many hobbies. My life mainly consists of school, work, then homework and sleep," Knuckles replied. "I like my job… and I like to read and write a little, in my spare time," he said. Amy huffed and spoke humerously.

"You know, if this were a date and a girl asked you this, you'd lose her real quick," she joked. Knuckles' cheeks flushed and he spoke shyly.

"Yeah, right, like any girl's ever going to want to date me," he murmured.

"Oh stop being such an emo!" Amy joked, "You just need to be a little more confident! If you accept yourself, then others will too. I had to tell Daisy the same exact thing when-,"

"Amy, the project…" Knuckles reminded her once again.

"Oh, right right… ok, since you don't have a lot of hobbies, why not tell me about your family and friends… or maybe tell a story about your past?" Amy offered. "Here would be a good example; tell me what happened to your arm, why you had to have it amputated," she asked him. Immediately, she realized how sensitive the topic might be, so she added, "I mean, if you feel comfortable with it, anyways."

Knuckles wasn't quite sure what to say and how to put it. He hadn't told anyone his story in forever… in fact, he hadn't told anyone besides Sonic his _entire_ story at all. He sighed and spoke.

"My old adoptive father… c-cut it off," he murmured. Amy waited for him to further explain why, though he could already see the appalled look in her eyes. He could bet she was thinking, "why on earth would he do that!" He looked down at his hand resting on the table and continued. "…I had been in an adoption center for 9 years of my life… ever since I was too young to remember, so I never knew my biological mother and father. Sonic was in that orphanage too, and he'd just been adopted by the family he lives in now. But then, a man named George came in and adopted me, lining to me, telling me he had a wife and kids when he didn't. Instead, he was a single man with a crappy job, and he was abusive. He forced me to do everything for him, and hit me if I refused."

As Knuckles further explained his story, Amy's heart started to throb, as she heard about all the cruelty that'd been inflicted upon this poor creature.

"…He'd come home drunk every weekend evening, and sometimes during the weekdays too. He'd deliberately come after me and take out his drunken anger on me," Knuckles explained. "He'd beat me, throw me, call me names and criticize me, kick me, spit on me… piss on me," he paused, as Amy grimaced at the thought. "Then one night, he stumbled home drunk, and I somehow got him really angry, and he came after me with a pocket knife. He cut at my chest several times, and I've got the scars to prove it. And then he started gouging out my shoulder. That's when I fought back and ran away. He chased me, but got hit by a car and died. I just kept running and running until I collapsed, and I woke up in a hospital with Sonic's family there to comfort me," Knuckles replied. "There, I found out how severe my injuries really were. They needed to amputate my arm," Knuckles finished. "That's what happened to my arm," he added. Amy looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth gaping a bit.

"N-No, please, go on; that can't be the end of the story," she calmly replied, repositioning her chin on her folded hands. Knuckles cracked a slight smile, which had been one of his first _real_ smiles in quite awhile.

"Heh, it's not," he replied. "Once I was let out of the hospital, Sonic's family let me stay at their house, since I had nowhere to go. Sonic was determined to convince his parents to adopt me. I didn't try to impose or anything, I just did what I would normally do at a friend's house, but not much longer afterwards, they adopted me into the family," Knuckles said, a bit of emotion rekindling in his voice. "Right now we're in the process of turning the basement into my bedroom. They've just inserted the carpet and painted the walls." Amy raised her head back up off her hands.

"But what about Mike and the other guys? Why do they bully you like that?" she asked.

"Well… since I only had one arm, all the girls wouldn't leave me alone. They'd keep asking me how I felt or if I needed help carrying my books… it got annoying, honestly," Knuckles replied. "But I guess the guys didn't like that very much. It started with rumors, mostly behind my back, but then they started calling me names like 'cripple,' spitting at me, throwing things at me, fake punching me, and now actually hitting me. The girls don't even follow me around anymore, yet they still threaten and harass me!" Knuckles' voice grew quiet again, and he stopped talking.

Amy was speechless; she had no clue how to make him feel better. "_Oh my gosh… this poor guy! I feel so bad! All this time, I've walked by him and thought of him as just another nobody! No wonder he always appears so depressed!"_

"Have you tried to do anything about it?" she asked. "Have you told the principal or teachers?" Knuckles shook his head no.

"It'll only make it worse," he replied. "They won't help, they'll only say 'they have no control over it, boys will be boys.' Then it'll give them the idea that this is ok, and they'll start getting worse." Amy had seen this happen first hand, so she knew this wasn't untrue.

"Have you at least told your parents or at least Sonic about it?" she asked quieter.

"No," Knuckles replied solemnly. "I didn't want them to worry, and Sonic probably wouldn't care."

"Knuckles, he loves you! You're his brother!" Amy tried to reason with him. But then, a buzzer went off on her phone. She looked at it and gasped.

"Oh man, I can't believe we've been talking this long!" she exclaimed. "I've got to go now!" She stood up fast and began to gather up her things.

"I should probably get going too," Knuckles replied, standing up as well.

"Oh, and we didn't even get a chance to talk more about our projects!" Amy added. "Uh… we can talk about it tomorrow, ok?" she asked. Knuckles nodded. "Thanks, see you around!" Amy exclaimed, and she walked towards the door. But before she left, she stopped and turned to him to say one last thing.

"Oh, by the way Knuckles?" she called. Knuckles looked up at her. "Smile more often. I like your smile," she said to him, and she left. Knuckles watched her leave, and a small, half-smile crept onto his lips. He swung his backpack onto his shoulder and headed home.


	4. Chapter 4

Amy was headed to school the next day on her own bus. She yawned, after not getting much sleep that night. She kept thinking about Knuckles' story. She couldn't get it out of her head, and it kept her awake almost all night.

When the bus pulled into the school and stopped, Amy got off and saw that the bus in front of hers was the bus Knuckles rode on. She saw the red echidna hop off the bus, and she started for him… until she saw the guys crowd around him again, and she backed off but still watched.

They started saying cruel things to him like, "Hey cripple," or "High five faggot," and slapping him in the face. Amy stared, walking blankly ahead as they continued their mocking. Knuckles didn't say a single word, he just kept walking, every once and awhile trying to walk ahead of them, before they caught up. He just stared towards his destination, inside the school building, and kept the same facial expression. However, that was until one of the boys suddenly put himself right up to Knuckles and started to do some sort of grind or something, right up against his body, his groin rubbing against Knuckles' hip. Amy felt like she was going to vomit, seeing what they were doing to him. Knuckles shoved the boy, a hint of anger in his face, and Amy thought for once he was going to defend himself. But instead, he ran towards the school doors and went straight through them, leaving the boys in their group to laugh.

"Oh man, not only is he a faggot, but he's gay too!" one kid said between mocking laughs. Some girls passing by heard this, and began to whisper. Amy felt like crying, or exploding in anger, whichever came first. They were spreading the rumor that he was gay now too; this poor guy's whole high school reputation has been trashed! Suddenly, before she had a chance to wake up from her dazed thoughts, she found herself crashing straight into the closed doors. Some of the people started to laugh a little, and Amy's cheeks blushed. Rachel and Sasha ran up to Amy.

"Amy, didn't you hear me call, 'watch out, there's a door in front of you!'?" Rachel asked her. Amy rubbed her head gently and replied.

"Sorry, I must've been really out of it. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she said to them, as she opened the door, let her friends in, then walked in as well.

"Well, you'd better wake up before cheer tonight!" Sasha replied. "Remember, you're at the top of the pyramid this year! You've got to be _extra_ awake and alert!" Amy remembered that… shoot, how was she going to clear her mind and wake up enough for trying to balance the top of the pyramid? Amy kept her cool and spoke.

"Thanks for that reminder," she said to Sasha, "But I'm perfectly capable of standing on the pyramid without falling over." To change the subject, Amy turned to Rachel. "So Rachel, how's your English project coming along?" Before Rachel could answer, her head trailed off to a corner in one hallway. Sitting up against the darker lit corner of the dead end hallway was Knuckles, his face in his arms as he sat with his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees.

"Oh, it's really good so far!" Rachel replied. "I've already got about a half a page! But my partner is acting like this is a joke or something. He's probably going to make me look like a slutty cheerleader or some sort of freak like that."

"But you are one!" Daisy joked, as she walked up to them and hugged them.

"_He looks so small and insignificant…"_ Amy thought, looking at Knuckles as she passed. _"I wish I could have done something to stop that from happening… why didn't I do anything!"_

"Who did you have again?" Sasha asked, continuing her conversation. "Was it that black and red hedgehog guy?" Rachel nodded. "Oh yeah, that's Shadow. He's a bit creepy," Sasha said. She turned to Amy. "Who did you have again?" she asked her. However, Amy didn't reply, staring off towards the west wing of the school, and Sasha had to call her name. Amy broke from her thoughts and looked at Sasha and Daisy.

"Huh? What was that, I wasn't listening?" Amy asked.

"Girl, you ok?" Daisy asked, "You've been all flighty and unfocused all morning!"

"I'm sorry, I've just been… distracted," Amy replied. "So what was that you asked?"

"I asked who your partner was for the English project," Sasha replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh… Knuckles the echidna," Amy replied quietly.

"Knuckles? The cripple boy?" Daisy asked.

"He is not a cripple!" Amy replied, stopping everyone dead in their tracks. "He needed to get his arm amputated! If you knew the story, you'd never call him cripple again!" Amy snapped at Daisy. Daisy pulled back in fear as Amy glared at her, her ears pulled down angrily.

"Whoa, take it easy Amy!" Rachel said, coming up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "She didn't mean to say it… right Daisy?" Rachel asked, giving Daisy a look.

"Y-Yeah… I didn't mean it. Sorry Ames," Daisy replied, and she continued walking. The others continued as well. Sasha caught up with Amy and asked her.

"Since when were you and Knuckles so… close?" she asked. Amy's cheeks flushed and she stuttered.

"Uh… w-well, we're not really close per say," she started. "He told me his story while we were trying to get information to put on our poems… it's really a sad story, I'm not lying," Amy told Sasha.

"No, I believe you. That guy always looks so depressed and down, he must've had something pretty bad happen," Sasha replied. "It's just… not everyone is as nice as Rachel and I. Others like Daisy are going to spread rumors that you like him or something. You'll become the butt of everyone's jokes, just like he is. I'm just watching out for you," Sasha told her. Amy sighed, knowing Sasha was right… but she just couldn't stand seeing Knuckles so small and helpless. But for now, she decided to ignore that thought, because the first bell rang, and she and her friends ran to their lockers before class started.

Knuckles sat in the corner of the hallway, trying to make his small whimpers as quiet as possible. He didn't want people to know he was crying like a baby. He just couldn't believe someone would do something like that to him! And nobody tried to help him! As always, he was just another nobody, and nobody cared enough to lend a hand. He sniffed and wiped at his nose, before he heard the bell ring. He stood up and grabbed his bag.

"At least now the hallways are empty," he murmured, as he walked out from the hallway and went to his locker.

While Knuckles tried to pull his full backpack out of the puny locker, he heard another locker close. Fearing it was another guy, he whipped his head around really fast towards the sound. But he was relieved to find that it was just that pink hedgehog girl from the other night, Amy Rose. Amy saw him, and waved. Knuckles didn't wave back; he simply nodded to acknowledge he'd seen her, and then turned back to trying to pull his backpack out. But then he heard footsteps growing louder, and he looked up to see Amy walking up to him. Knuckles let go of the bag and felt his heart race. He swallowed nervously, unsure of why his heart was beating so fast. Amy approached him and smiled.

"Hello Knuckles!" Amy said in her usual peppy voice.

"H'lo," Knuckles half-heartedly replied, looking back down at his stuck bookbag.

"Do you need some help?" Amy asked him. Knuckles nodded, and tried one last time to pull out his backpack, but with only one arm, that seemed nearly impossible. Amy gripped the bag on one side with both her hands and they tugged. The bag began to slip through the opening.

"It's almost there!" Amy grunted. They gave one more, final tug, and the backpack dislodged itself and fell out of the locker. However, it also threw the two of them onto the floor, landing on their backs right next to each other. Amy was laughing at how funny that must've looked, when Knuckles looked to his side to see if she was ok. When he turned, his nose rubbed right up against hers, as she turned at exactly the same moment. For a few seconds they stared at each other, their noses were pressing against each other's and their cheeks blushing so hot it was like they were on fire, before Knuckles quickly sat up and reached for his backpack and cleared his throat.

"S-Sorry about that," he replied, standing up. "Thanks for the help," he added, and he turned to face her. Amy was sitting up, and Knuckles extended his hand to lift her up.

"I'm ok," Amy replied, and she let herself up, not wanting to hurt his one good arm by having to lift her. "…But you're welcome. See you in English." She gave him a smile, before she turned and grabbed up her own backpack, leaving him alone again. Knuckles let his arm fall and he sighed.

"Yeah… seeya," he mumbled, and he picked up his own backpack and left.

Amy walked into her first hour class late, and after receiving a lecture from her teacher, she sat down in her seat and took out her notebook. But while the teacher was talking and writing on the chalkboard, his back to the students, Amy turned to the boy she sat next to in her row, Sonic the hedgehog.

"_Hey, that's Knuckles' brother!_" she thought. "_I know Knuckles says he doesn't care about him, but… he couldn't possibly not care! I wonder if he knows what he's going through?"_

"Hey Sonic?" Amy whispered. Sonic, already bored, raised his head off his arms, looked at her, and whispered "what" in reply. "Are you aware of what's happening with your brother?" she asked him.

"Oh, hey! Your name is Amy, right?" Sonic asked, completely avoiding or not hearing the question. Amy growled.

"Yes, but are you aware that your brother is-,"

"Say, you're a cheerleader, right? I've seen you in the games; you're the really petite one doing all the flips," Sonic interrupted, trying to charm her with his smile.

"You're not listening! Your-,"

"Amy and Sonic, quit conversing! Or I'll have to give you both a detention!" the teacher called angrily, before he turned back to his chalkboard. The boys hooted at the two of them, and Amy didn't want to get in more trouble, so she turned away from Sonic and sat back in her spot, her cheeks flushing. Every once and awhile, she looked back at Sonic. He was still looking at her, and whenever she looked back, he smiled at her all "charming-like" and wiggled his eyebrows. Amy always rolled her eyes at him and huffed when she looked away. "_He was right,"_ she thought, "_He doesn't care! All he cares about is his sports and girls! I don't know who else could help him!"_

After class, Amy came up to Sonic again in the hall, now sounding bitter.

"How could you be so careless about your own brother!" she said, before she walked past him.

"Whoa whoa, wait!" Sonic shouted, and he ran to catch up with her. Amy stopped and turned to her, her heart leaping. Maybe finally he's willing to listen! He stopped in front of her and spoke. "You know my brother?" he asked. Amy nodded.

"I have him in my English class," she said.

"Well, then could you tell him to tell mom and dad that practice is gonna go late tonight?" he asked. Amy lowered her eyes at him; of course, again he didn't care.

"Sure, I'll tell him," she bluntly replied, and she turned and walked away.

As Sonic turned to walk the other way, he caught up with some other guys from the football team.

"Hey dudes, I just saw the hottest girl ever! And she's a cheerleader!" Sonic said to them. "I think she totally digs me!"

"That's awesome dude!" another jock replied, high-fiving Sonic. "That'll raise your status, like, to the roof!"

"I know, right! I think I'm going to ask her out!" Sonic replied.

"Dude, ask her to homecoming, then kiss her during the dance, where everyone can see. That'll, like, be the best place!"

"Yeah, everyone will see you there, which will make your ultimate popularity spread faster!"

"Ok, I'll do that! Thanks for the advice guys!" Sonic replied, high-fiving them one last time before he headed to his next class.

_Sonic, you're such a jerk in this story! You don't care about Knuckles! D:_

_Sonic: But at least I get Amy!_

_Maybe!_


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic skipped up the steps as he came inside, after his late practice. Tails and Knuckles were already home, and Tails was making himself a snack before dinner.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic said, coming up to him and ruffling his hair.

"Hi Sonic!" Tails replied. "Want a PB&J sandwich? I can make two," he offered.

"Nah, I'll pass. You shouldn't eat so much before dinner or you won't have an appetite," Sonic replied.

"But I'm starving!" Tails whined, and he took a bite of the sandwich. Sonic looked around the living room.

"Where's Knuckles?" he asked his little brother.

"He's downstairs, in his room," Tails replied through a mouthful of peanut butter.

"Ok, thanks! Oh, and Tails? Wipe off your mouth, there's jelly on it," Sonic said, before he headed downstairs. Tails crossed his eyes to find gobs of jelly on his muzzle, so he wiped them off with the sleeve of his shirt.

Sonic came up to the door to Knuckles' room and knocked on it.

"Knuckles? You want to let me in?" he called.

"No! Go away!" Knuckles shouted from inside. Sonic sighed and put his face in his hand. "_There he goes, being all emo again_," he thought.

"Knuckles, please, I just want to talk to you," Sonic pleaded.

Knuckles sat on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Amy had told Knuckles in English class how Sonic completely ignored her when she tried to tell him about what was going on. All he did was flirt with her. And although he was glad Amy didn't tell him, it broke his heart to think that even his own brother didn't care about him anymore.

"No! I said go away! I want to be alone!" Knuckles shouted to Sonic, tossing over in bed.

Sonic didn't know what was wrong! Recently he's been acting so outsider-y and had been ignoring the family. He was either in his room or at school and he always seemed down in the dumps.

"Knuckles, what's wrong? We won't be able to help you if you don't tell us what's wrong," Sonic pleaded.

"Oh so now you care!" Knuckles said bitterly, before he rolled again and shoved his face in the pillow.

"What are you talking about!" Sonic asked.

"You're so oblivious!" Knuckles shouted, his voice muffled in his pillow. "You only care about flirting with her, and not me!"

"_Her! What's he talking abo- oh man, he's jealous of my affection towards Amy!"_ Sonic thought.

"Knuckles, you're really acting like the little brother instead of the older one!" Sonic called. "Just because I have a crush on Amy, doesn't mean you have to get all jealous of me! I still love you, it's just… I love her too!" Sonic said.

Knuckles growled, that not being the case whatsoever.

"You're so oblivious!" he repeated.

"Knuckles-,"

"Fine, you want me to act like the big brother, I will. Get out of here, I HATE YOU!" Knuckles shouted, and Sonic could hear the sound of something being thrown at the door. Sonic felt his heart drop slightly, and he turned and walked away.

Knuckles shoved his face back into his pillow to blot out the tears coming to his eyes. _"He doesn't care anymore!"_ he kept telling himself, "_Sonic's replaced you… and now you're worthless to him." _He looked to his desk and saw his cell phone. He needed to talk to someone, anyone that'd understand. He reached out and picked up his cell phone.

Amy was doing some last minute homework when her cell phone chimed. She got up from her desk and dug into her backpack, pulling out her phone. There was a text on it… from Knuckles! She'd never expected him to want to talk with her, and as surprised as she was, she nearly dropped her phone. She sat down on her bed and read the text.

"Hey Amy, I'm not bothering you, am I?" is what it read.

"No, just doing homework," she typed back. She sent it and waited by her phone for a moment. But when he didn't send another text for awhile, she grew both bored and a bit worried, but she went back to doing her homework to distract her. Awhile later, another chime was heard, and she nearly tripped over her chair to get to her phone on the bed. She opened it, and was surprised by the length of this text.

It read, "I just got into a fight with Sonic. He thinks I'm jealous of him… It made me so mad, yet also so sad. I don't know what to say or do anymore. I feel like I'm all alone in this world; I'm being dragged away from everyone I love, like I'm a lone bag floating in the wind…"

Amy reread that last sentence. "I feel like I'm alone in this world; I'm being dragged away from everyone I love, like I'm a lone bag floating in the wind…" That was amazing… did he like to write or something? Amy thought back to her poem that she had to write.

"This is perfect!" she exclaimed. She quickly wrote it down, then went to answer his text.

"I'm so sorry 2 hear that," she typed back. She received another text from him.

"Sorry… I got a little poetic there… that happens when I'm depressed."

"No, it's ok… It was actually very beautiful," Amy typed in reply.

"Thanks!"

Amy thought back to what he'd said. "So, don't take this the wrong way but, why r u talking 2 me of all people?" She waited for the reply, anxious to see what he'd say.

"You're the only one who'd listen," was his reply. Amy blushed at the text, then typed her reply.

"I'm sure if u tried 2 be more open, u'd have others who'd want 2 listen 2 u as well."

"I'm… scared to," was his reply.

"There's nothing 2 fear, just start talking."

"I think Sonic's going to try and ask you to homecoming. I heard him talking to my other bro Tails," Knuckles replied. Amy thought back to how flirtatious Sonic was asking. She growled, feeling only anger towards him, and texted Knuckles her reply.

"Don't worry about him… I won't ever accept it from him!"

"Please don't be mad at him… he's just in his awkward teenage phase. He's only 14," Knuckles replied. Amy was a bit surprised by Knuckles' sympathy, and she smiled.

"Aw, you're so sweet! :D," she replied. Knuckles took a bit longer to reply to that text.

"Thanks?" was his reply.

"No problem!"

"Hey, I have to go to dinner, see you at school," Knuckles said. Amy was going to just text back "bye" to him, but then she thought back to the whole thing with Sonic. What was going to be her excuse when she says no? She whipped out her phone again.

"Hey, Knuckles? Do u have plans during homecoming?" she asked. She set her phone down and waited for his reply… but it never came. Amy re-occupied herself with her homework again, until she was already done with it, and just staring off into space.

Amy awoke by the small chime of her cell phone. She raised her head, realizing she must've dozed off. She walked back up to her cell phone and looked at the time. "_Yeouch, 9:30! I should be getting ready for bed!"_ she thought. She opened up Knuckles' text and read it. It was short and sweet.

"No, why?" Immediately, she felt her heart leap.

"Do u want 2 go 2 homecoming with me, as friends? U don't have 2 wear a tux if u don't want," she texted back. Once again, she had to wait a bit for his reply. Her heart almost jumped into her throat as she read his reply once it came.

"Sure. Do you want me to buy the tickets?" Amy's smile grew huge, and she texted back.

"If u want. I'll talk 2 u about it in English," she replied, and she set down her phone, feeling good about herself.

"You did it girl, you did it!" she told herself. Knuckles sent back one more text.

"Ok, see you! Have a good night Amy!"

* * *

_Short chapter… short, but sweet. Do you guys think Knuckles should wear a tux or no?_


	6. Chapter 6

Amy was heading to her first hour class the next day, when she ran right into Sonic. Sonic smiled at her and said hi. Amy moaned on the inside, knowing what was coming, since Knuckles had so kindly told her.

"Hey Amy, would you like to go to homecoming with me?" Sonic asked her, flashing his "lady killer" smile at her.

"No," she simply replied. She tried to walk away, but Sonic stopped her and asked her why. "I'm sorry Sonic, I can't. I've… I've already got a date," she replied. Technically, Knuckles wasn't her date, they were just going as friends… but she didn't want to tell Sonic that, or he'd still try to ask her out anyways.

"What! Who asked you?" Sonic asked. Amy's stomach was tying in knots as she spoke.

"Knuckles," she replied.

"YOU!" Sonic exclaimed to his brother. "You asked Amy Rose out to homecoming?" Knuckles stared at Sonic from his spot on the couch as he shouted at him. "She's a frickin' cheerleader and you are a nobody! You're going to ruin my image!" Sonic shouted at Knuckles. Knuckles frowned at Sonic.

"I didn't ask her, ok? She asked me!" he replied. Sonic was surprised by this, but he was still mad at Knuckles.

"You did this on purpose!" Sonic shouted, ignoring what Knuckles had just said. "You overheard me talking about how much I liked Amy, and out of jealousy, you just had to go and ask her out, purposely to make me look foolish. I-I mean, when did you two even start hanging out!" Sonic exclaimed. Knuckles growled at Sonic and marched past him and down towards his room.

"Hey, don't you walk away from me! I'm not done talking to you!" Sonic shouted.

"Oh yeah, well I'm done talking to you!" Knuckles shouted, and he slammed his door behind him, locking it. He sat on his bed and stared at the door.

Sonic knocked on Knuckles' door, but Knuckles wouldn't open it.

"Of all the girls that sit there and surround you, you had to choose the one girl that I love!" Sonic shouted to Knuckles. That sent Knuckles over the top.

"You bastard! You can't even open your eyes to see what's right in front of you!" he shouted. "Those damn girls stopped following me over two years ago!" Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, surprised by both Knuckles' language, and what he'd said. "…Amy is one of the first girls to pay a lick of attention to me ever since I've come to this school!" he continued. "Because you don't care anymore! You're too engrossed in your stupid sports games, and flirting with girls, to notice that I've been bullied ever since you brought me to this _God-forsaken_ school!"

Sonic felt his head spin as Knuckles continued. "I've been kicked, tripped, spat on, called names, punched, mocked, publicly humiliated, and one frickin boy even tried to hump me!" Knuckles shouted, tears beginning to come to his eyes. "They're probably spreading the rumor right now that I'm gay, and you don't even care! You haven't taken the time to care about anyone but yourself!" Knuckles cried. He wanted to just shut up and stop talking, but he just couldn't stop the words as they flowed from his mouth. "At night, I come back to my room and think thoughts of suicide! I've tried cutting myself… it doesn't help the pain like people say! I was so tempted to just grab some pills from the cupboard and end myself right there… but then Amy decided that I needed a friend. She's been my first real friend, EVER, and you're too selfish to let me go to homecoming with her, JUST AS FRIENDS!" Sonic's eyes had widened as Knuckles shared his story, and he fell to his knees in front of Knuckles' door.

"Kn-Knuckles… I'm sorry! Why didn't you tell me!" Sonic exclaimed.

"If you would give one cent of your time to anyone but yourself, then maybe I wouldn't have to tell you about it!" Knuckles bitterly replied.

"Knuckles, please let me in..?" Sonic pleaded. "I want to say I'm sorry properly."

"No!" Knuckles replied, tears now flowing down his cheeks. Sonic could faintly hear his sharp breaths and figured he was crying.

"Knuckles, please!" Sonic pleaded. "I realize I haven't been there for you, and I regret it. I had no idea any of this was happening to you, and you're right, it's all because I've been so pig-headed! But now I want to make it up to you!" Sonic admitted. It was silent inside Knuckles' room for a few moments, before he could hear the door being unlocked, and Knuckles opened the door and glared at Sonic. His eyes were still wet with tears, and he wiped at his nose. Before he could say anything, Sonic hugged Knuckles around the shoulders, squeezing him extremely tight.

"I'm so sorry Knuckles, please forgive me!" Sonic cried into Knuckles' shoulder. "I promise, I will never let anything else happen to you," he assured. "And… you can take Amy to homecoming," Sonic added, and he let go of Knuckles. "I don't care anymore, and I hope you two have fun," he added. Knuckles smiled slightly and hugged Sonic back.

Sonic took Knuckles' arm in his hand and turned it over to look at his wrist. Sure enough, there were 3 to 4 thin scars on his wrist, right around his veins, that weren't there before. Sonic felt like he was going to cry.

"Thanks Sonic," Knuckles replied quietly to what Sonic had said before. "But I don't think the boys are going to treat me any differently now, even if you do hang around me. I'm worried they'll just start treating you this way too," he said. Sonic let go of Knuckles' hand and buried his face in his brother's shoulder.

"I can't believe you cut yourself…" Sonic murmured quietly, ignoring what Knuckles had said. "When did you do this?"

"A few weeks ago," Knuckles replied quietly. "The pills were the night before I met Amy," Knuckles added.

"Y-You didn't take them… did you?" Sonic asked. Knuckles was silent, and Sonic grew scared. He didn't let go of Knuckles' shoulders, but he looked into his eyes. "Did you actually take the pills?" he demanded. Knuckles let his head droop and he spoke quietly.

"Y-Yes. I went to bed that night, terrified that I might not wake up again. But, at the same time, I fell asleep so easily that night… I think I was relieved at the thought that I might not have to worry about going to school one more day," he admitted. "But they didn't work… I woke up completely fine the next morning… with only a stomach ache. I was going to try it again the next night…" Knuckles said.

"But then you met Amy," Sonic finished for him. Sonic sat down on the floor, bringing Knuckles down with him. "How did you two meet?" Sonic asked. Knuckles gave Sonic a confused look. "I want to update myself on your life, since I've been neglecting it lately," Sonic explained.

Knuckles sighed. "Well, we were in English class, and we were assigned that poem project," Knuckles said. He knew Sonic had that assignment too when he was in his English class, and Sonic nodded. "…We started talking, but then the bell rang. Amy asked me if I wanted to stay after school and get the rest of the information for the project, and I had nothing better to do. I figured, 'since I was going to kill myself that night, I might as well do something, since she wanted to, before then.' So I went along with it," Knuckles explained. "We ended up meeting at the Starbucks in town, and long story short, I told her my story… all of it," he said. "She seemed really open to what I had to say, and she actually felt sympathy towards me. And before she left, she told me to smile more. She said she liked my smile… and that night I decided not to kill myself," Knuckles replied.

Sonic's eyes were full of tears, and he hugged Knuckles again. "Oh my god…" Sonic blubbered. "Oh my god, I feel so awful! You could've died that night!" he cried, squeezing Knuckles tighter. "I-I don't know what I would've done if you died!" Knuckles felt tears coming back to his eyes too, and he hugged him back. Sonic let go and placed a hand on Knuckles' arm stump, tears still in his eyes.

"…All this time, you kept this to yourself…" he mumbled.

"I didn't want you to worry," Knuckles replied.

"Oh bullshit! I'm supposed to worry about you, we're brothers!" Sonic said jokingly, shoving his brother aside. Sonic chuckled and wiped at his eyes, trying to cheer himself up. Knuckles laughed too and smiled at him.

"From now on, you'll never get bullied ever again!" Sonic assured him, looping an arm around his shoulder.

"But, I'm worried they'll just start treating you this way too," Knuckles repeated. Sonic laughed again.

"Aw don't worry about them! They're just a bunch of jealous jerks!" Sonic replied, "And they're never going to be able to even touch me, I'm the fastest thing alive! I promise I'll find a way to get them to treat you better. Starting with taking the bus to and from school again," Sonic said.

"Thanks," Knuckles replied.

"I love you brother. Don't ever think differently," Sonic said to Knuckles, embracing him one last time. Knuckles felt a huge weight lifted off his chest.

"Ok, now I'm going to have to teach you how to dance, if you're going to homecoming with Amy," Sonic said to Knuckles. Knuckles' cheeks blushed.

"I don't think I'm going to dance with her… I mean, we're only going as friends," he replied.

"Oh potato tomato, you're gonna need it; c'mon!" Sonic exclaimed, grabbing Knuckles' arm and taking him with him upstairs, towards his room.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day was Friday, the day before the homecoming dance. Knuckles was in the library, looking for a book during his study hall time, but wasn't having much luck. That's when another boy that he recognized walked up to him. It was Todd Becker, one of the guys who happened to be pretty cruel to him on a regular basis, and also happened to be a bit of a drug junky. He moaned in his throat and tried to avoid eye contact as he approached. He stopped right next to him and leaned on the book shelf right in front of him.

"Hey Knux! So I heard you're going out with Amy Rose now," he said, his voice appeared surprisingly calm, which made Knuckles suspicious.

"I just asked her to homecoming," he said firmly, looking back over at another bookshelf for a book.

"It's all cool bro, you don't need to get defensive," Todd replied. That struck Knuckles by surprised, and he gave Todd a look. "…I just wanted to give you something that'll help," Todd continued. Knuckles rolled his eyes, and waited as Todd reached into his sweatshirt pocket. From his pocket, Todd pulled a small joint of marijuana, and he placed it in Knuckles' hand. Immediately, Knuckles shoved it back into Todd's hands.

"Get that away from me!" he said angrily.

"Chill dude, it's just to help you loosen up," Todd replied, trying to hand it back to him. Knuckles shoved his hand away and turned to walk away. That's when Knuckles felt someone's hand in the back pocket of his pants. He froze and turned around, to see Todd turning and running. Knuckles reached into his pocket, and felt the marijuana joint in his hand.

"HEY!" he shouted, and he ran after Todd. "Todd, I said I didn't want it!" he exclaimed. "Take it back!" He chased Todd out into the middle of the library, and was about to catch him too.

"Hey, you!" the male librarian's voice called, stopping Knuckles dead in his tracks and allowing Todd to sneak away. "What do you have there?" the librarian asked as he approached Knuckles, looking at the joint in his hand.

* * *

"This is bogus! It's not mine; Todd Becker stuffed it in my pocket when I wasn't looking!" Knuckles exclaimed to the principal. The principal, Mr. Blake, readjusted in his seat and let out a long sigh.

"I don't know who to believe Knuckles," he said. "I've already talked to Todd. He doesn't have any drugs on him or in his system, and he swears you tried to give it to him," he said. Knuckles didn't know what to do or say that he hadn't already.

"Look, it's not mine, ok? I don't do drugs," he said quieter, before he got up to leave the office.

"If you leave, you'll be suspended," the principal calmly warned. Knuckles stopped and clenched his fists.

"Get my brother in here," he said through clenched teeth.

Sonic walked into the principal's office, and the moment he saw Knuckles in there as well, he immediately panicked. He ran up to his brother.

"What happened? Did they beat you up again?" he asked him urgently. Knuckles looked away angrily and didn't reply.

"No Mr. Sonic, your brother has been caught illegally distributing marijuana," Principal Blake said.

"I already told you, I don't do drugs…" Knuckles muttered angrily, not looking at them. Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing; his brother, a drug dealer… that couldn't possibly be right!

"B-But Principal Blake, I've been very close to him all my life, I'd know if he was a dealer," Sonic defended.

"Well Sonic, the evidence is right here," Principal Blake replied, gesturing to the bag with the joint of marijuana in it sitting on his desk.

"But sir, look at him! Does he look like a user to you?" Sonic asked, gesturing to Knuckles. The angry echidna looked down, to avoid eye contact, as the principal looked him over.

"Well, he does have some telltale signs. Bloodshot eyes and sores on the face," principal Blake pointed out. Sonic was furious now.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed. "He only looks like that because-,"

Principal Blake spoke while Sonic was shouting. "Like it or not, I-," he had to shout the next part, to be heard over Sonic's shouting. "That's it, until this matter is resolved, Knuckles you're suspended!" he yelled. Suddenly, the room grew silent again, and the principal took a calming breath. While Sonic just stood there and looked at Knuckles fearfully, Knuckles moaned and sunk in his seat, worried about what his parents would think.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know who to believe," Principal Blake continued. He turned to Knuckles. "Until we resolve this matter, you are not allowed to set foot on the school grounds," he said. "For your sake, I won't call the police… yet," he added. "I'll get your parents on the phone." Leaving the 2 boys alone, he got up and went over to look up Knuckles' home phone number.

Sonic got up and knelt down by Knuckles' chair, placing his hand s on his brother's shoulders.

"Please tell me… did you do it?" he asked him quietly.

"No, I already said, I don't do drugs," Knuckles replied. "That rat Todd Becker snuck it in my pocket!" Sonic growled and clenched a fist in anger.

"I always hated that guy! I'm going to kill that sonnova-,"

"SONIC!" Knuckles interrupted, "Don't, you're just going to get yourself in trouble!"

"Hello? Yes, is this Mrs. Prower?" Principal Blake asked into the receiver.

Knuckles could feel his stomach clench. "What am I going to do?" he murmured.

"Knuckles, I'm sure if you just explain the true story to mom and dad, they won't be too mad. They'd understand," Sonic assured.

"I know, but… what about Amy, and homecoming?" Knuckles asked. "If I can't set foot on the school's grounds, how am I going to take her to the dance? Maybe I should call and cancel," he asked.

"No way!" Sonic said firmly, standing back up. "You're talking like a quitter! You never back down from a fight!" Sonic helped Knuckles up and out of his seat. "You're taking her to that dance, and you're going to have the time of your life!" Sonic prompted.

"But what about Principal Blake?" Knuckles whispered, looking at the principal as he talked on the phone.

"Don't worry about him! I'll take care of that," Sonic said, smiling at his brother.

Principal Blake walked back over to them.

"Your parents are on their way over to take you home," he told Knuckles. Then he turned to Sonic. "And YOU may go back to class," he said to Sonic. Sonic hugged his brother goodbye and headed out, planning how he was going to make this work.

* * *

Sonic saw Amy in the hall and caught up to her, calling her name. He caught up with her, but she turned her nose up at him.

"Go away, I already said I don't want to go with you!" she said.

"What? No no, that's not what I want to talk to you about!" Sonic said, remembering that he blindly asked her out.

"Then what is it?" Amy asked impatiently.

"It's about Knuckles," Sonic said. Now Amy was interested in what he had to say. She could sense a bit of nervousness in his voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Ok… how do I put this delicately…" Sonic started, "Some kid snuck a marijuana joint in his pocket, and now he's suspended," Sonic told her. Amy looked like she was about to explode.

"What? Who?" she cried.

"One of the jerks who've been bullying him," Sonic replied.

"So you know about that, huh?" she asked him, rocking awkwardly on her feet.

"He told me last night," Sonic replied, quieter. Amy smiled slightly, happy that Knuckles had finally told him.

"…But anyways!" Sonic continued, "He isn't allowed to step foot anywhere near the school."

"Then what about homecoming?" Amy asked.

"I've got a plan for that… kinda," Sonic replied. "Knuckles is going to get into the dance with my school ID card, so the man at the entrance can let him in. Then you two can just avoid teachers or the principal. Try to keep it low profile; there's going to be so many people there that if you do, you'll never be noticed," Sonic said.

"That's genius!" Amy replied, smiling. But then she lost her smile. "But wait, Knuckles looks nothing like you. How's he going to pass off as you, when there's a picture on your ID?" she asked him.

"That… I haven't figured out yet…" Sonic admitted, and put a finger to his chin. "I'm going to have to work on that…"

Amy smiled at Sonic. "I'm sorry I've been so snappy to you… you're a really great brother to Knuckles, you know. You're very sweet," she said, and she leaned upward and kissed him gently on the cheek, just a small, gratifying peck. Sonic felt like he was going to melt, as he smiled and blushed.

"I'll stop by your house later after school so we can get all this planned out," Amy said, and she turned and walked off to her next class. Sonic touched his cheek, still smiling and blushing, as the bell rang and kids rushed around him. But then he shook his head and walked forward.

"_Pull it together Sonic, remember, this is Knuckles' big day_," he reminded himself.

* * *

_Another short chapter... Ug, I don't know how else to take this, so I'm going to have to get right to it... :P_

_I'm so swamped; I have, like, 5 unfinished stories that I have ideas for. I need a break..._


	8. Chapter 8

Sonic walked up the steps to his house after school. He'd purposely skipped practice that night, so he could be there to help Knuckles. He was also curious to know how things had went with Knuckles and the parents.

He walked into the house, to hear laughing and talking coming from the kitchen. Confused, he dropped his backpack and walked into the kitchen, and saw Amy and Tails sitting in chairs next to the counter, Knuckles sitting on top of the counter, and his mom cutting up vegetables for dinner. The four of them were talking together… and they'd gotten Knuckles to laugh again! Sonic hadn't seen Knuckles laugh in a long time.

Mrs. Prower looked up from what she was doing and saw Sonic.

"Hi Sonic, how was school?" she asked him. Sonic's eyes trailed over to Knuckles and Amy, then back at his mom.

"Uh… good, but… what's Amy doing here mom?" Sonic asked.

"Remember Sonic? I told you I'd stop by your house after school and help you with that _math assignment_?" Amy asked him, in a tone that told him he should've known this.

"It was very nice of her to come and help you, since you're struggling so much in math," Mrs. Prower said, as she began to chop the vegetables again, not looking at them now, "You should thank her." Confused of the reason why, Sonic thanked her, and then heard both of them struggling to hold back laughter.

"Mom, how come you don't seem mad about Knuckles getting suspended?" Sonic asked. Mrs. Prower set down her knife and sighed.

"I am mad, but Knuckles explained it to me, and I believe him. Right now I'm mad at that principal!" she said. "It's bad enough my husband is gone a lot more now because of work, but now I've got a boy who isn't allowed in his own school!" Mrs. Prower said, eyeing Knuckles. "I still had a talk with him… just like the time I told him not to put his _feet_ on the _counter_," she said, and made a dirty glare at him. Knuckles' cheeks flushed and he quickly pulled them off the counter, then his eyes trailed over towards Amy again, who was still holding back giggles.

"Ok, let's go into your room and work on that assignment," Amy said to Sonic, a small laugh escaping her lips as she spoke. She got up and pushed the chair in, then headed towards the living room. Still confused, Sonic followed her, leading her towards his room.

"I'm going too!" Knuckles said, and he hopped off the counter and followed them. Mrs. Prower raised a brow as the three of them left, looked at Tails, who looked equally confused, then she shook her head and continued cutting the vegetables.

"So how was your day Miles?" she asked Tails, as she scooped them into a pot.

"Mom! I said call me Tails!" Tails exclaimed.

* * *

Sonic closed the door behind him in his room and turned to the two of them.

"So, what's all this about a math assignment?" he asked them.

"Sonic, that was an excuse. I told you before class that I'll come over later to discuss how we're going to work out homecoming," Amy clarified. Sonic realized, and he went "oohhhhh…" Knuckles rolled his eyes at his little brother and huffed.

"So what's the plan? I know nothing," Knuckles asked.

"Ok, here's what we've got so far," Sonic said. "You're going to get into the dance with my school ID card, so they could let you in and all. The man at the front is going to ask for your money and to see your ID. He'd scan your ID to verify, take the money, then let you go on. That's why you'd need my ID," Sonic prompted. "Then, after you-,"

"Wait wait wait!" Knuckles interrupted. "How am I possibly going to pass off as you? Your picture's on the ID," he asked.

"Yeah, that's the part I still have to figure out," Sonic replied. Then Sonic heard a knock on his door, and Tails walked in.

"I heard what you guys are talking about," the now 10-year-old fox said.

"Tails, please don't tell mom! Knuckles has been planning this for a lot longer than he'd been suspended," Sonic begged his little brother. "If you tell her, she won't let him go!"

"I won't tell," Tails replied. "And, I have an idea on how you can get past your issue," he said. "I could make a digital copy of your ID and change the picture to your class picture, Knuckles. Normally they just go by number recognition on the scanner, not pictures," Tails said.

"Really? You'd do that for us?" Amy asked him. Tails nodded, and Sonic smiled at his brother, then came up and hugged him.

"You're such a little genius Tails!" he said, giving Tails a noogie. Sonic let go of the fox's head and turned back to Knuckles. "Well then, since that's all settled, then the only other thing you have to worry about is not being seen by any of the teachers, and that shouldn't be too hard with all those people in there," he finished. Knuckles nodded.

"It sounds like this could actually work!" he said, smiling.

* * *

_Wow, this one was really short... but up next is the dance, and I didn't want to include this one on the past chapter, so oh well... wow, I'm really on a roll with this story! And I'd like to make a special thanks to Camobambo1, and all the nice comments he or she has been posting on my stories! You rock!_


	9. Chapter 9

The next day was Saturday, the night of the homecoming dance. The roads leading to the school were packed with cars, with either parents trying to drop off their kids or older kids trying to find parking spots and go inside. But just down the street from the school, where the roads weren't so busy, Knuckles walked down the sidewalk with Sonic, on their way to Amy's house to pick her up. Knuckles was dressed in a long-sleeved, casual black collared shirt, and a pair of dark black jeans. He had a red tie tied loosely around his neck, and his shirt was tucked in all nice and neat. He thought he looked a little awkward having a cuffed sleeve hanging loose from his missing arm, but Sonic told him he looked just fine.

Sonic wore a white, short-sleeved collar shirt and a pair of black pants… but no tie; he had no one special he was going with, so why dress up?

"…I hope you guys have fun… and don't get caught," Sonic told him. Knuckles chuckled slightly, playing with his tie.

"You and me both," he replied.

The two of them came up to Amy's house and knocked on the door. A moment later, a man who they suspected was Amy's father answered the door. He was kind of scary; he didn't exactly look happy as he glared at them.

"Which one of you will be taking my daughter tonight?" he asked with a deep voice. Knuckles gulped and stepped forward.

"M-Me sir," he said. Amy's father eyed him down.

"Then I want her home right when the dance is over… and keep your… hand… to yourself," he replied awkwardly, when he saw Knuckles' arm.

"N-No sir… we're just going as-," the man closed the door for a moment, cutting Knuckles off. "…friends," he finished, quieter. He could hear Amy's father call to his daughter behind the door.

"I don't think he likes you," Sonic whispered to his brother.

"Shut up!" Knuckles whispered back harshly. A moment later, the door opened again, and Amy walked out in her dress. Sonic and Knuckles both let out a small "wow." She was wearing a beautiful purple dress that reached to about the middle of her thighs, with silvery colored sequins on it. Amy smiled at them and approached Knuckles.

"You look very nice," she said to him, smiling. Knuckles' cheeks blushed and he smiled back.

"Thanks, you do too," he said. Amy looked at Sonic.

"And is this Sonic here? Wow, I didn't recognize you without your graphic tee and sweat shorts," Amy joked.

"Yeah, I clean up nice, don't I?" Sonic said, pulling at his collar and smiling. Amy giggled.

"Ok, let's go before the dance is over!" she said to the boys. "Got your fake ID Knuckles?" she asked. Knuckles nodded and pulled it out of his pocket.

"Wow! It looks so real!" Amy commented. "Your brother Tails is something else!"

* * *

Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy walked into the entrance to the dance. The music was so loud that you could hear it outside of the building! As they waited in line to get into the dance, Knuckles fidgeted nervously with his tie. Amy saw this, and rested a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make it past security," she assured him. Knuckles smiled slightly, then as the man called "next," the line moved up, and it was Sonic's turn. He showed them his ID, which they scanned with a handheld scanner, he gave them the money, and he was on his way. Now it was Knuckles and Amy's turn. They both scanned their IDs, and to Knuckles' relief, his ID code went through without any complications. He paid for both his and Amy's admission and they went in. Sonic was standing by the entrance, and he high-fived Knuckles when they caught up to him.

"Yeah! We made it bud!" Sonic exclaimed. The three of them headed towards the gymnasium, where the dance was. They walked inside, to be bombarded by people and loud music. Sonic smiled, and looked around at all the dancing guys and girls.

"You know… you guys can go on ahead… I'm going to go dance for awhile," Sonic said, before he pushed himself to the front, near the DJ's speakers. Knuckles laughed slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Well, now that we're alone, what do you want to do?" he asked Amy. Amy shrugged.

"I don't know… let's go see if we can find some of my friends?" she offered. Knuckles' cheeks flushed, but he nodded.

"Ok," he replied.

Amy brought him up to her friends, who were all standing in a group. It were her 3 good friends, Rachel, Sasha, and Daisy.

"Hey girls!" Amy said. The three of them looked up and smiled at them.

"Hi Amy!" Rachel said. "Hi Knuckles!" she said to him.

"What're you doing here?" Sasha asked him.

"Well, I uh…" Knuckles mumbled.

"I asked him to homecoming," Amy said, looking at him and smiling. Her friends smiled too.

"That's nice!" Daisy said, "But… you don't care about what the other cheerleaders might say?" she asked.

"I don't give a crap anymore," Amy replied. "Knuckles is my friend."

"Aw! That's sweet!" Sasha replied. "So, have you guys danced yet?"

"No, we just got here!" Amy replied.

"Well c'mon then, let's dance!" Rachel said happily, and she took Knuckles' hand and began to dance to the fast-paced beat with him, swinging and swaying him. Knuckles looked over at Amy nervously, but she was smiling at him and trying not to laugh, before her and Sasha began to dance together too. Knuckles made a sympathy smile and looked back at Rachel, letting her kind of push him along as she danced with him. After a few awkward minutes, the song was finally over, and Rachel thanked him for the dance. Amy was laughing now, as Knuckles looked back at Amy with an awkward face. Knuckles' eyes trailed over towards the entrance, but then he gasped when he saw a teacher walking nearby, headed their way.

"Hey, Amy, I'm going to go get a drink of water, ok?" he asked, and he secretly gestured over towards the approaching supervisor.

"Uh, yeah, I think I'll go with you," Amy said, and the two of them pushed their way in the opposite direction, through the crowd, to a different section of the gym. Once they knew it was safe, they stopped and chuckled slightly.

"That was close," Amy said between a laugh.

"Yeah!" Knuckles replied.

* * *

They spent almost half of the dance talking to people or dancing to some songs that everyone knew, keeping it low profile like Sonic had suggested. They'd run into Sonic every once and awhile, and he started showing off with his dancing. At one point, they even formed a circle around him and people were watching him show up a couple of guys and girls… he definitely won!

But then, the DJ stopped the track.

"Ok guys and gals, time to grab your someone special, because it's time to slow things down a bit!" he announced, and he put on a nice, slower song. Knuckles had been looking forward to this part of the dance all night; there was normally only one or two slow-dance songs at these dances. Knuckles turned to Amy and cleared his throat.

"Hey, Amy? Do you, uh, want to dance?" he asked her, extending his hand to her, his cheeks blushing. Amy's cheeks also turned a light pink, and she nodded.

"Ok," she said quietly, and she took his hand. They walked out onto the dance floor, where they also saw Sonic dancing with another cheerleader. Sonic looked his way and snuck Knuckles a thumbs up before he looked back at his partner. Amy put her arms on his shoulders, but paused and pulled them back, when she realized she had touched his arm that'd been amputated; she worried it might hurt him.

"It's ok, it doesn't hurt anymore," Knuckles gently said to her, and he brought her other hand back up onto his shoulder, and she locked hands around his neck. Knuckles cautiously put his arms around her waist… her high waist. He was careful not to stand too close to her, in case if she didn't like it. Amy looked up at him and smiled, and then they began to sway slowly to the music. Amy made a nervous giggle and spoke.

"I didn't know you could dance?" she said.

"Sonic taught me," Knuckles replied quietly. Amy's cheeks blushed brighter as she spoke.

"Well he taught you well," she said, and she brought herself a little closer, hugging his neck a bit tighter. Knuckles' cheeks were nearly as red as his fur, but he smiled at her, as he looked at her green eyes. They really did sparkle in the lights, like emeralds. Knuckles spoke, so it wouldn't grow awkward.

"I'm curious… why did you take pity on me, when we first met?" he asked.

"What makes you think I took pity on you?" she asked him in reply.

"I-I mean… I was in the lowest of the low… I was actually on the verge of suicide, when I met you," he said to her, quieter. Amy looked up at him, her eyes beginning to water.

"You wanted to kill yourself?" she asked.

"I tried once," Knuckles replied. "B-But then I met you," he added, trying to spin this into a positive note. "Wh-what I mean to say is… after I met you, y-you gave me this… I don't know, this feeling… I don't feel so hated anymore," he said. Amy still had tears in her eyes, he could see them, but she smiled at him.

"I-I mean… what I'm trying to say, is…" Knuckles couldn't pick out the right words, and he stopped swaying. "You changed my life… saved my life, and I want to thank you," he finally said. And suddenly, before he could say anything more, Amy went up onto her toes and quickly kissed him on the lips, catching him by surprise. Her lips pressed so gently onto his, that he barely felt it, but it still was given with the same amount of passion as a 5 minute kiss. But as soon as it began, it ended, and Amy sighed and smiled at him.

"You're welcome," she said quietly, and she turned and headed towards the doors to get some air. Knuckles' cheeks were bright red, and he put a hand awkwardly to his head and scratched it, looking back and forth for a moment, and let out a small chuckle, smiling. Sonic came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him.

"Nice going dude!" Sonic exclaimed, but Knuckles barely noticed his presence.

* * *

Amy burst through the doors and let the cool night air calm her down. She walked a ways outside and sat down on a bench, running a hand through her hair.

"What did I just do?" she asked herself. "I-I mean… we just met three days ago!" Amy breathed heavily to calm herself, and looked inside, back at the dance. She could see Knuckles walking out of the gym and looking around in the equally crowded hallway for her. Amy let out a long sigh and brought her legs up to her chest on the bench, pulling her dress down afterwards. She watched him as he walked around, but then their eyes met. He saw her, and he headed outside to meet her. Amy brought her legs back down and flattened back out her dress, as he approached.

"Hey Amy…" Knuckles said, semi-awkwardly, "May I sit down?" Amy nodded, and Knuckles sat next to her. It was quiet for a few moments, as the two just watched their breath billow out in foggy clouds. Then Amy turned to him and spoke.

"Listen Knuckles, I'm sorry about… before. I like you, but we just met… I don't know what I was thinking before!" she said to him. "Can you forgive me?" Knuckles looked down at his feet out in front of him, then back up at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I understand," he said quietly. "We all do things we regret."

"Oh no, it's not that I don't regret it!" Amy said louder. "Far from it, it's just… I've only known you for three days, but it feels like half a lifetime," she said. "I want to kiss you again, but… it's too soon right now," she said to him. Knuckles dug in his pocket, smiling slightly.

"W-Well… how about a… date then?" he asked her. Amy looked at him, at his amethyst eyes that glittered under the starlight. "D-Do you want to go on a date with me?" Knuckles asked her. Amy made a big smile at him, and hugged him close.

"Of course I will," she said to him, and she kissed him again, this time on the cheek, before she looked up at the stars. Knuckles smiled and looked up with her.

* * *

"Well well well, if it isn't the cripple and his sympathy friend," a voice said from behind him. Knuckles looked back towards the entrance to find several guys who used to tease and bully him, like Mike and Todd, standing in a group.

"Oi! I thought he was suspended! What's he doing here?" another boys asked. Knuckles moaned, and rolled his eyes, as the group walked up to him.

"What do you jerks want?" he moaned.

"Oh, not much, just wanted to see you off with your new looser girlfriend," Todd sneered, looking at Amy.

"I'm no more a looser than you are!" Amy exclaimed. "In fact, you're the bigger looser, because you have to stoop so low as to hurting others just to feel good about yourself, you bunch of rejects!" Amy snapped. Knuckles looked at her with surprised eyes, while she stared at the boys with a confident look. Mike pushed his way to the front of the group, being the biggest and the strongest, and he towered over Amy. Amy still stood her ground, although she was a bit frightened, but then Knuckles stood in front of her and growled.

"You keep away from her!" he said bitterly. All of the boys began to laugh.

"Look at him! He's trying to be tough when really he's a dork!" one of the lesser guys said. Mike sneered and cracked his knuckles.

"Ok tough guy, you think you've got what it takes to beat me? I've got 15 gold medals for the wrestling team!" Mike threatened.

"I've got one arm and a pair of spiked knuckles that're going to gouge your eyes out!" Knuckles threatened right back, and he removed his glove. Amy was a bit surprised; she'd thought those spikes were part of the glove! She could hear a few guys go "whoa, holy crap!" She knew deep down they were afraid of him, but Mike still ran full-force at Knuckles. However, Knuckles dodged him and he barreled past him. But the second time, Mike swung his arm around and caught Knuckles around the neck and began to squeeze. As Knuckles began to gag, and try to writhe out of his choke hold, he thought back to the moment when George was doing this to him. It uncapped a bit of rage that he had been trying to keep bottled up for so long. He growled, and with all his might, shoved his feet into Mike's stomach. Mike grunted in pain and dropped him, and Knuckles fell to the floor, getting up quickly and gasping air into his lungs.

"Beat him up Knuckles! You're already suspended, they can't touch you! Just do it!" Amy shouted to him. Mike got up and charged him again, but for the first time, Knuckles actually defended himself from the attack.

"This is for every time you beat me up!" Knuckles shouted, and he laid an uppercut to Mike's chin, knocking the 200 pound wrestler into the air and onto the concrete on his back with a loud thud. Mike moaned and put a hand to his head, not getting up. The other guys who were watching turned their heads to look at Knuckles with wide eyes.

"None of you are going to tell the principal or teachers I was here tonight, or that any of this happened, or you get what he did!" Knuckles threatened, pointing to Mike. The other boys fearfully nodded. Knuckles walked up to the group, who cowered in front of him, and he walked right up to Todd Becker.

"Todd. I want you to go straight to Principal Blake, first thing Monday morning, and tell him it was you who had the marijuana joint yesterday!" he said to the boy. Todd nodded again, and apologized with fear in his voice. Then Knuckles turned his back on them. He bent down and put on his glove again, when Amy ran up and hugged onto Knuckles' neck tight.

"Oh my god, Knuckles that was amazing!" she cried. But that's when a teacher opened the door and saw Mike lying on the concrete, moaning.

"Hey!" a teacher called, "Who did that!"

"Uh oh, now's our time to go!" Knuckles whispered to Amy, and the two of them turned and ran over to the bushes at the side of the school.

"HEY!" the teacher shouted, and he grabbed a flashlight and went after them. Lucky for them, it was too dark from where he was standing, and the teacher couldn't see who the two students were before they ran.

Knuckles and Amy slowly crept through the bushes, trying not to make a sound, when they saw a flashlight beam trailing through the bushes, getting closer to them. The teacher was walking along the grass, pointing his light into the bushes. The two froze, as the beam passed over them. Luckily they were unseen, since both of them were wearing dark clothes. Once the teacher was far enough away, they left the shelter of the bushes and ran for the street, and headed back towards Amy's home.

* * *

The two of them were walking now, talking and laughing, and picking leaves from each other's hair.

"That was some of the most fun I've ever had!" Amy said happily, switching sides on the street so she could take Knuckles' one arm in hers.

"I'm sorry I had to ruin it early and get into a fight," he said.

"Aw, it's ok! It was beginning to get boring anyways!" Amy replied. "I think it's great that you finally taught those guys a lesson," she said. "Normally I don't support violence… but just this once I'll allow it!" she added, laughing at her joke. She cleared her throat and continued. "No, but seriously, I think the guys are really going to treat you differently now," she said more seriously. "I'm really proud of you."

The two of them stopped outside Amy's house, and Knuckles looked at Amy.

"Thank you… for giving me a chance," he said. Amy took his hand in hers and smiled.

"Thank you for being the best project partner ever," she said, and she kissed his cheek again, before she went up the steps and opened her front door. She stopped at the door and made sure to wave before she went inside. Knuckles watched her go, waving to her, then he smiled and headed towards home.

"This was the best night of my life!" he said to himself, kicking at a pebble as he made the long trek home.

* * *

_THIS IS NOT THE END! I-I mean, don't you want to hear if he stays suspended or not? And what about the bullies, or the English project? Don't you dare say this is the end! sorry, I'm just pumped =^.^=_

_anyways, yeah it may take awhile because I suck at writing poems and I'm at a loss for what both of their poems are going to say. May take a bit, k? Until then, bai!_


	10. Chapter 10

The coming Monday, Sonic skipped school to stay with Knuckles by the phone. Knuckles had told sSonic once he came back from the dance what he'd done, and Sonic was so proud that he barely left him alone all night.

Then, at around 9:30, their phone rang, as expected. It was Principal Blake, telling them that an "anonymous person" confessed to giving him the marijuana, and Knuckles had been falsely accused. He was allowed to go back to school that day. Sonic was ecstatic and nearly shook Knuckles until he puked. After giving the phone to their mother, so the principal could tell her the same thing, and after she hung up, Mrs. Prower hugged Knuckles tight.

"I knew you weren't a druggie!" she said happily.

"M-Mom… I can't breathe!" Knuckles stammered, and she let him go.

"Sorry," she said. "Well, c'mon, let's drive you to school; don't want you to miss anymore of it!" she said, getting out her keys.

"…And that is my partner, Melissa," one girl, presenting her poem, finished, before she smiled at the class and said "thank you." The class clapped for her poem, and she sat down.

"Very nice Kylie," the teacher said. "Ok, up next, we have Amy Rose," she said. Amy felt the little pre-speech butterflies flutter in her stomach, as she grabbed her poem and walked up to the front of the class. She cleared her throat.

"My partner is Knuckles the echidna, and the title of my poem is 'The Truth Beneath the Scars,'" she announced. She took one last look at Knuckles, who smiled a confidence-boosting smile, and she started her poem.

"_Pain and neglect throughout the years; that's the truth beneath the scars. No family or friends to sop up these tears; this is the truth beneath the scars. We go through life, striving to be heard; but what about those who don't say a word? Cover up with a smile, but your smile is see-through; I can see through this disguise, and I want you to know. _

_You have a friend, one who really cares; you have a friend that'll always be there; through good times and bad, I hope you can see; the truth beneath the scars is that you're everything to me."_

As Amy read her poem, Knuckles propped his chin up on his hand and he sighed, smiling at her as she read. He could tell she was nervous; her voice cracked a bit, and she barely looked up. But her poetry was beautiful!

"…_When you told me that you loved me, I felt like I could sing; but before you tried to do away with your life. Death is not the way and it doesn't numb the sting; so please don't try to kill me inside, because you're my one true friend._

_You have a friend, one who really cares; you have a friend that'll always be there; through good times and bad, I hope you can see; the truth beneath the scars is that you're everything to me. _

_And I don't know what it's like to lose; your arm, your family's love, the freedom to choose. But I do know what it's like to want love, and I'll tell you now, as God looks down from above;_

_You have a friend, one who really cares; you have a friend that'll always be there; through good times and bad, I hope you can see; the truth beneath the scars is that you're everything to me._ Thank you." Amy sighed, finishing her poem, and she looked up at the class. They all appeared shocked and surprised, and they immediately started clapping.

"Very well done Amy, very well done!" the teacher said, also clapping. Amy blushed slightly.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and she bounded quickly back to her seat as the clapping died down. When she sat down, Rachel congratulated her.

"I never knew you were so good at poetry!" she said.

"Actually, I suck at it! This took me almost the whole week," Amy replied.

"Ok, so up next is Knuckles," the teacher called. Knuckles took in a deep breath, before he stood up and shuffled up to the front. He hated being the center of attention, because it felt like everyone was always staring at his arm, but he swallowed and pushed away the feeling as he spoke.

"My partner is Amy Rose the hedgehog, and the title is 'Superhero Friend.'" Amy waited for him to start in anticipation.

"_Look out, there's a superhero on the way! Not the kind wearing leotards and spandex, but the kind we see every day..."_ Everyone laughed a little at that line, and Knuckles smiled nervously then continued. _"…They're crazy and silly, nice yet insane; though they don't have super powers, they're still super people, and guess what, they're heroes just the same. _

_Because we could all use a superhero as a friend; they stay with you 'till the troubles come to an end. No measure of evil or amount of kryptonite; can keep us apart when it comes to true friends. Yes we all could use a superhero friend._

_I'll admit, when I met you, I tried to ignore you. You were loud, you were spunky, and yet I adored you. I could only dream to be more like you; friends at your side and plenty to do. You listened to me and you smiled when I frowned; when the villains arose, you beat them all down.  
Because we could all use a superhero as a friend; they stay with 'till the troubles come to an end. No measure of evil or amount of kryptonite; can keep us apart when it comes to true friends. Yes we all could use a superhero friend._

_Tomorrows a brand new day, I'm excited! I can't wait to see what adventures we'll plan. There's more villains in the world who still need fixing; our bond is stronger than Superman._

_Because we could all use a superhero as a friend; they stay with 'till the troubles come to an end. No measure of evil or amount of kryptonite; can keep us apart when it comes to true friends. Yes we all could use a superhero friend."_ Knuckles finished, and looked directly at Amy. She was smiling; that was a good sign. The students clapped for his poem too, and Knuckles sat down. As he walked down the aisle to his seat, sonic patted him on the back as his congratulations. Knuckles smiled at his brother and sat down. Everything was pretty much working out for him, and as he blindly listened to the other student's poems, he thought about Amy's poem, and how beautiful it'd sound if she put it to music.

"_She's really thinks of me as a friend…"_ he thought, before smiling.

At the same time, Amy was thinking about how amazing it would be if Knuckles could turn his poem into a song.

"_He thinks I'm a superhero?"_ she thought, feeling flattered and possibly blushing a bit.

Later on after school, at Amy's cheerleading performance, Knuckles was sitting in, at the moment, and empty seat. He knew Amy was going to be there soon, her coat was saving a spot next to his… along with all the other cheerleaders on the team. He was sitting in the dugout, where normally the cheerleaders or players would stay when they aren't out on the field. It was a bit awkward and embarrassing, sitting in an empty seat where the cheerleaders were going to sit, but at least none of the audience could see him. Knuckles watched as Amy and the other girls performed. He admired how beautiful she looked, and flexible and daring she was. Several times, Amy and one other girl were thrown into the air and caught by the others. It actually made Knuckles' heart leap into his throat every time she flew into the air, then he relaxed again when they caught her safely.

"You'd never catch me doing that…" he mumbled to himself, "…And not just because I'm a dude."

When the girls finished, they came back over by the dugout, and the game, a baseball game, began. Amy bounded up to him, panting from her performance.

"Hi Knuckles!" she said, and she opened her arms to hug him.

"Hi Amy- oh, wait, you're all sweaty," Knuckles said, not taking Amy's hug. Amy lowered her eyes, but she could tell he was just being funny, and she rolled her eyes and sat down next to him.

"You still look beautiful," Knuckles told her, in case if she may have taken what he said to heart.

"Thank you," she said, and she shoved him.

"You know, this is the first game I've ever gone to," Knuckles said to Amy. "I've never been to one of Sonic's games before."

"Well then, I'll help inform you on the rules if you get confused," Amy said, and the game started. Sonic was, of course, on the team, and when he ran past them and out to bat, he'd always wave to the two of them, who'd always wave back.

After a long night of game play, Sonic's team won, and to be silly, the rest of the teammates all poured their cups of Gatorade on the team captain, Sonic's, head. Sonic got them back though; he shook his hair all over them. Then the cheerleaders all came out of the dugout to congratulate the team, after the crowd in the stands began to leave. Knuckles and Amy headed out to congratulate Sonic, when a stray baseball that the coach was trying to pick up from the game rolled over to Knuckles' feet.

"Here kid, pass it here!" the coach called, waving to Knuckles from a distance away. Knuckles picked it up, wound his arm back, and chucked the ball, landing right in the coach's waiting hand.

"Thanks!" the coach called, and he continued. Knuckles walked up to Sonic, who smiled at him.

"Wow Knuckles, that was an impressive throw!" he said to him. "Maybe you could try out for the baseball team next year?"

"Nah, I don't think I'd make it," Knuckles replied.

"Are you kidding? The team needs a pitcher like you!" Amy told him, looping her arm around his. Knuckles looked at her and smiled.

"Do you really think I'd make it?" he asked.

"Of course!" Sonic said. "In fact, it's still the beginning of the baseball year; why don't you ask the coach if you could be a substitute pitcher this year? You just tell him that I'm your brother, he'll let you in without second thought!" Sonic said.

"Well, ok, if you really think I'll make it…" Knuckles said. Amy hugged Knuckles, who put his arm around her shoulder. Sonic hugged him too, and he gave Knuckles a noogie.

"I love you brother!" Sonic said.

"I love you too!" Amy also said, and she kissed his cheek. Knuckles smiled; finally, he felt loved and accepted, and it only took one person… the first girl he'd ever loved.


	11. Chapter 11

_This part is really short. The last chapter was meant to be the last chapter of the story, so I should've put "the end" or something in there, but then I thought of one last, cute little tidbit to put at the end. Just to further explain what happened with the bullying. So, here you go!_

* * *

Knuckles walked down the hallway of the school, with Sonic and Amy on either side of him. They were heading to school the next day, after another big game. Knuckles had been accepted onto the team, and after proving his worth, he became an actual member of the team.

As he walked, nobody whispered about him, nobody poked fun at him, nobody even said anything that wasn't nice. Things had changed in just a few short months. He wasn't made fun of anymore, except the occasional, jealous guy. But they never said it to his face. He was involved in something, instead of just going home each night. And best of all, he had the girl of his dreams by his side. Knuckles looked at Amy, who smiled at him, and looped her arm around his. No longer was he the lonely cripple boy he used to be, now he felt like he was somebody, and as he proudly walked down those halls. He looked to Sonic, who wore a pair of dark shades, and smiled at some girls as he walked past. The girls squealed happily, excited by the smile Sonic had given him, after they passed, and Knuckles rolled his eyes at his brother. But then, he found himself smiling, and triggering another group of girly shrieks. Knuckles looked back at Amy and shrugged, and they all broke off towards their own lockers; but not before giving Amy one quick kiss goodbye.

"Yup, it's great to be back!" he muttered to himself, as he opened his locker.

_(Here we go...)_

The End! :)

* * *

_Well, that's it now. I warned you it was short. _

_The story is now over... phew! That took a long time (well, not really) Thanks everyone for all the nice comments; this is Super-sonic Iblish, signing out!_


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